Zimbabwe Cricket - Support the Streak 13!

Call to support Zimbabwe Cricket
Friends, family, countrymen
In recent times there have been various calls to boycott the Zimbabwe cricket team on the grounds that they served as an instrument of the Mugabe regime. As many of you will know a number of us rejected these calls as we felt that they attacked the victims of the regime rather than the regime itself.
Recent events surrounding the national team and it\'s Captain Heath Streak have illustrated this. For someone else this would be a great opportunity to say I told you so but on the contrary these are very sad times for Zimbabwe. The country has come full circle applying the racial prejudices so many fought and died to eliminate.
There are 11 players that will make me feel proud as a Zimbabwean, that will allow us to say we may not have much but we give it a damn good go. These eleven players should be selected on no other grounds than their ability to play cricket and their willingness to do their best for their country. The selection of the national team has evidently departed from being made on these grounds.
I would therefore like to call on you all to help petition the WCC to urgently step in and investigate the situation in Zimbabwe with a view to suspending test status if the accepted norms of sportsmanship are not being adhered to and if racial discrimination is being applied in selecting our team. We would also like to call upon the WCC to move to ensure that the members of the Zimbabwe cricket team that have taken a stand against political interference in the team are protected in the event that they are targeted with reprisals for taking this stand.
As you are all aware the sacking of Heath Streak triggered the current fiasco. As team captain Streak has served his country with dignity and honour often in the face of misguided condemnation. He has shown himself to be a man all Zimbabweans should be proud to count amongst their countrymen. He deserves our acknowledgement and support but above all he deserves our respect.
I would also like to ask you to join me in letting any player who is selected on any grounds other than his ability to play cricket to hang their heads in shame. Their lack of support for the team captain Heath Streak is an act of betrayal and a massive show of disrespect to all cricket fans and to the people of Zimbabwe. What manner of man accepts an appointment of national and international significance that he has not earned and does not merit
Please circulate this petition and ask anyone who would like to sign his or her name to it to follow the attached link.
http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/Streak13/
Peace and love always

Sponsor

I am proud Zimbabwean and albeit recent a Zimbabwean cricket fan. I am dedicated to the retun to peace and democracy in Zimbabwe and to a return to the road leading to the achievement of fairness and equality for all in our country.
HJ Mendelsohn
*Due to the delicate nature of security regarding Zimbabwe signatories to the petition will not be published. this information will only be made available to the intended recipient the World Cricket Council. I will keep you posted on the number of signatures collected here.
19/04/04 10:00 - 74 signatures collected